El Califa de León

Mexico’s MICHELIN One Star Taqueria: Taquería El Califa de León

"A humble, standing-room-only taqueria tucked into Mexico City’s San Rafael neighborhood, this more-than-70-year-old slip of a spot is easy to walk past, obscured by clothing vendors and various shops, and inside there’s room for only a handful of people—no tables or seats, just a metal shelf-style counter facing a griddle, tortilla press, refrigerator, and short counter. The tightly edited menu sticks to four tacos—bistec, chuleta, costilla, and the signature gaonera—and the approach is pure and simple: thinly sliced meats cooked to order on the plancha with lard, coarse salt, and a squeeze of lime, then tucked into handmade corn tortillas mixed by hand and pressed to order, the tortillas a touch larger than some of the other tortillas seen in the city. Consistency and technical precision are the calling cards here, morning or night. The bistec arrives tender and flavorful with a great sear, and the salsa makes it come alive without overpowering the simplicity; the chuleta shows a golden-brown crust with a juicy interior; the costilla is incredibly flavorful and so tender it practically melts, often timed so it’s handed over piping hot; and the gaonera—a whole-steak ribeye even more tender than the bistec—lands on a thin yellow corn tortilla and scarcely needs anything, though the house-made tomatillo salsa is an option. It’s an impressive, affordable meal, cash only, and the focus on meat and tortilla—without garnish or fuss—earned this tiny taqueria a MICHELIN One Star." - The MICHELIN Guide US Editorial Team